Working Forward

June 30 2016

Shipped lumber twice this week. It is nice to have someone else trucking so I can sit here and type. There is a Capital press article about juniper out this week. http://www.capitalpress.com/Timber/20160628/oregon-juniper-loan-program-off-to-slow-start-but-backers-remain-hopeful

Still a lot of struggling going on. The loggers are sporadic but the real hang up is production….me. Assembling the right mix of crew, equipment and logs is beyond me thus far. The orders are there in general and we are getting caught up with the urgent demand. The State is offering assistance and other rural development interests are helping as well. I have just gotten burned up trying to balance everything so I am moving slowly.

I miss writing on this space. I have had a lot of experience since the last updates. I always wish I could do more. Ain’t that life?

KD

It’s All About Juniper

“All The Latest News” is a link found on the left side of this page, go there for this months happenings.

Welcome to the web site!

I have milled thousands of logs into hundreds of thousands of sticks. Juniper is still an enigma. I believe in its opportunity and its beauty. I struggle to realize the market potential and efficient production of juniper lumber. Removing juniper is a distinct benefit to the landscape of Eastern Oregon. Finished juniper products are beautiful. Making a business of milling juniper lumber is rare. Several companies have tried working with juniper. Most have gone under. It takes a special skill-set to make juniper “work.” I am proud to be one of the few sawmills focusing on juniper. I hope I am a pioneer that can survive. Even with the mountain of juniper lumber I have created, juniper is still a challenge and perhaps an opportunity.

A critical understanding is that I do not mill “old-growth” juniper. The logs I utilize for making juniper lumber are the invasive juniper trees that degrade our grasslands and watersheds. The old-growth trees are sometimes used by artistic craftsmen. Those trees are harvested on a very select basis. The trees I purchase and mill are harvested by commercial loggers during forest and watershed improvement or restoration efforts. I purchase logs by the truck-load. Juniper is a native tree. I do not push to eradicate juniper trees. The issue is the negative effect the juniper population explosion is having on our landscape. I turn invasive juniper into beautiful lumber.